What's with this

[Pokegirl Fan~]

I wouldn't put it past them to have considered that. In the manga they had a character based on Kris from Pokemon Crystal and as soon has heart gold and soul silver instead of writing her off and writing Lyra in they just replaced her clothes to Lyra's and never adapted Lyra since they look alike anyway.

Hopefully she doesn't make an appearance wearing that rediculous flower hat lol

I'd prefer to see her in her fedora, her first hat, it maybe no hat at all if she appears in SM.

 

[Janovy]

Couldn't uh the famous producer and former Kalos Queen that successfully mentored Elle (to winning and defending her title) and is offering to do the same for Serena have given that advice and taught those skills and techniques?

I mean, if Serena's point of traveling to Hoenn is just to "grow", why not go with Ash to whatever region he has planned for next? Stick her in the SM female character outfit, dye her hair black, and there ya go.

Hoenn has Contests, so it makes sense she'd go there or Sinnoh (remember, learning from Contests is her primary motivation now), since she has no clue where Ash is going and it would be detrimental to her character if she decided to go along with wherever Ash was going.

Second, Serena is technically following Palermo's advice by going to Hoenn to check out Contests. I guess sticking with Palermo and being mentored just isn't her style and she'd prefer to keep travelling instead of staying bound to Kalos.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

The entire point was that Serena didn't want to be dependent on the old lady but grow on her own independently. If she'd follow Ash blindly she would be dependent on Ash, instead of taking charge herself.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

The entire point was that Serena didn't want to be dependent on the old lady but grow on her own independently. If she'd follow Ash blindly she would be dependent on Ash, instead of taking charge herself.

Yeah. Serena told Palermo that she was afraid Palermo would spoil her, which Palermo then half-jokingly agreed that was her plan the whole time. And obviously she wanted to separate from Ash as well because being near him boosted her confidence through the series and she wanted to find out what it was like to travel on her own.

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

The entire point was that Serena didn't want to be dependent on the old lady but grow on her own independently. If she'd follow Ash blindly she would be dependent on Ash, instead of taking charge herself.

I'm glad that despite how attached to Ash Serena was throughout X&Y, that she eventually found her own path cuz I was worried for a while that she would always be in his shadow. I thought that her decision to leave to Hoenn properly showed that even tho she liked Ash, she had her own dreams that didn't involve him. :]

 

[DatsRight]

I am rather surprised they didn't have Sinnoh as her contest destination though, unless the supposed Gen 4 remakes aren't coming that soon.

 

[Cat's Eye Draco]

I am rather surprised they didn't have Sinnoh as her contest destination though, unless the supposed Gen 4 remakes aren't coming that soon.

Well, looking at the release dates for past remakes, there seems to be a gap of roughly five years between each one: FireRed and LeafGreen were released (in Japan) in 2004, HeartGold and SoulSilver in 2009, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire in 2014.

If they stick to this pattern (assuming it is a pattern) then Gen 4 remakes would probably be the most likely to surface sometime during/around 2019.

 

[Wednesdayz]

I am rather surprised they didn't have Sinnoh as her contest destination though, unless the supposed Gen 4 remakes aren't coming that soon.

Even if she had gone to Sinnoh, it's not like her chances of coming back for D/P/Pt remake hype would increase IMO. Apparently the writers hate character returns these days.

 

[LilligantLewis]

I wouldn't put it past them to have considered that. In the manga they had a character based on Kris from Pokemon Crystal and as soon has heart gold and soul silver instead of writing her off and writing Lyra in they just replaced her clothes to Lyra's and never adapted Lyra since they look alike anyway.

I don't follow the manga, so let me get this straight: are you saying they did the manga equivalent of if the anime had pretended Marina never existed and swapped her out for Lyra? That's horrible.

Well, looking at the release dates for past remakes, there seems to be a gap of roughly five between each one: FireRed and LeafGreen were released (in Japan) in 2004, HeartGold and SoulSilver in 2009, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire in 2014.

If they stick to this pattern (assuming it is a pattern) then Gen 4 remakes would probably be the most likely to surface sometime during/around 2019.

Wow I really hope this happens. It would give us our first four-year generation since Gen IV. To me, Gens III and IV were the two best in the anime, and I think a large cause of that was that they had 4 years to fully flesh out the story. I hope Gen VII can be 4 years as well, which would happen if Gen IV remakes are part of Gen VII and don't come out until 2019, because that would mean the earliest Gen VIII can start is 2020.

Apparently the writers hate character returns these days.

I don't think we really have proof of that. Gen VI was the first generation with no character returns, and 1 generation is definitely too small of a sample size for us to say for sure that the writers are done with them forever. If this continues over the next few generations as well, then I may start to agree with you. Additionally, Cilan did appear, even if it was just in a special

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Additionally, Cilan did appear, even if it was just in a special

Iris had her own special, too, though she wasn't in Kalos like Cilan was.

 

[LilligantLewis]

Iris had her own special, too, though she wasn't in Kalos like Cilan was.

Well that Iris special was originally meant to air during the few weeks between BWS2Da! and XY in 2013. Just because it got delayed to 2014, I don't consider it an XY special. I still consider it a BW special like the Cilan+Brock special.

In fact, even Bulbapedia considers it as such: On Iris's page, there's only 1 section in the "History" section, but on Cilan's History section, there are two sections: "BW series" and "XY series" with the events of the Clemont special being written in the XY series section.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Well that Iris special was originally meant to air during the few weeks between BWS2Da! and XY in 2013. Just because it got delayed to 2014, I don't consider it an XY special. I still consider it a BW special like the Cilan+Brock special.

In fact, even Bulbapedia considers it as such: On Iris's page, there's only 1 section in the "History" section, but on Cilan's History section, there are two sections: "BW series" and "XY series" with the events of the Clemont special being written in the XY series section.

Even with that, Serena didn't get anything after XY. Using your logic, she should have had one on the few weeks before Sun/Moon aired. The fact that she didn't and that I'm fairly certain she was more popular than Clemont leads me to believe she'll get her own thing at some point in the next couple years.

 

[LilligantLewis]

Even with that, Serena didn't get anything after XY. Using your logic, she should have had one on the few weeks before Sun/Moon aired. The fact that she didn't and that I'm fairly certain she was more popular than Clemont leads me to believe she'll get her own thing at some point in the next couple years.

I agree. In fact, I'm holding out hope that a lack of a special so far means she'll appear in Alola!

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

I am rather surprised they didn't have Sinnoh as her contest destination though, unless the supposed Gen 4 remakes aren't coming that soon.

I guess that the writing staff just wanted a reference to Hoenn to tie into Or/As. Also Contests originated in the Hoenn region, so it makes sense that Serena would head over there first to begin her Contest journey. Not that we'll ever see that tho. :[

 

[Alloutℯ]

Also while on the subject this isn't a Serena bash but more so her rivals, Miette or however you spell her name to be exact. Once they made her "like" Ash I was repulsed. Basically she was more of a rival for Ash's affection than actual showcases (considering she never beaten Serena).

Well Serena's crush on Ash was a big deal back then, so it was only natural that we'd see some kind of rivalry happen that involved Serena and another girl wanting Ash's heart.

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

Well Serena's crush on Ash was a big deal back then, so it was only natural that we'd see some kind of rivalry happen that involved Serena and another girl wanting Ash's heart.

To be fair, Miette seemed like she only made comments about liking Ash to make Serena mad, not that she actually did have her own crush on him. It seemed like a tactic to psych Serena out which reminded me of Harley and Ursula. :3

 

[Leonhart]

I remember when I originally watched this episode I got excited thinking the writers had an arc planned out for Serena to actually get good at battling. What happened? If they didn't want to, why have Ash comment here on how Serena could get stronger? What a tease

Perhaps they did originally plan on giving Serena more chances to improve her battling skills, but were simply pressed for time given that they had to show her competing in TryPokarons.

 

[DatsRight]

Perhaps they did originally plan on giving Serena more chances to improve her battling skills, but were simply pressed for time given that they had to show her competing in TryPokarons.

Except they had plenty of opportunities to improve on Serena, what with the countless interrupted battles, and even Team Rocket face offs that were just downgraded into effortless spam-fests (compared to early face-offs with Ash and Clemont who at least sometimes demonstrated proper wits and resilience against the TRio). It wasn't as many situations as other companions, but it was still plenty of screen time they could have used to demonstrate Serena's battle skills developing, but they always opted out.

It genuinely feels like that was actually meant to be it, just they could never be bothered putting actual substance and development into Serena's actual skills so just dumbed down the opposition all the time to make her look better than she really was. They made sure she NEVER lost after all, and even the times she took hits were rare. This especially seems the case given her final battle with Ash where she can somehow battle fluently and keep up with a league finalist (though they at least bothered to rectify it in that case and establish a proper style for her). It was making her into a badass but in the cheapest most superficial way possible.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Except they had plenty of opportunities to improve on Serena, what with the countless interrupted battles, and even Team Rocket face offs that were just downgraded into effortless spam-fests (compared to early face-offs with Ash and Clemont who at least sometimes demonstrated proper wits and resilience against the TRio). It wasn't as many situations as other companions, but it was still plenty of screen time they could have used to demonstrate Serena's battle skills developing, but they always opted out.

It genuinely feels like that was actually meant to be it, just they could never be bothered putting actual substance and development into Serena's actual skills so just dumbed down the opposition all the time to make her look better than she really was. They made sure she NEVER lost after all, and even the times she took hits were rare. This especially seems the case given her final battle with Ash where she can somehow battle fluently and keep up with a league finalist (though they at least bothered to rectify it in that case and establish a proper style for her). It was making her into a badass but in the cheapest most superficial way possible.

It's too bad, really. Had XYZ had another year, they could have given Miette/Shauna/Jessie a straight win over her and shown her developing that particular battling style. Defeating Team Rocket effortlessly still counts as experience (only a little, but considering how often they get into face-offs with the twerps, it adds up).

 

[DatsRight]

It's too bad, really. Had XYZ had another year, they could have given Miette/Shauna/Jessie a straight win over her and shown her developing that particular battling style. Defeating Team Rocket effortlessly still counts as experience (only a little, but considering how often they get into face-offs with the twerps, it adds up).

I just don't think the formula would have remotely altered if they had more time. They knew what they were doing and it just felt like they didn't want to remotely try with Serena or properly develop her competition besides SAYING they were a challenge. They always kept her conveniently with the high ground so she never had to struggle or demonstrate any weakness, and so they could play her off like she had gotten strong. Even with Team Rocket she felt pampered since she only took part in the instances they were in jobber mode or lost through outside interference (in other words all the instances the twerps barely had to do anything to win), while Clemont was always the companion who took part in their harder fights or more technical plans where he had to outsmart them in some impressive way. Serena only had "challenges" a four year old could have won. Sure she was always a winner, but she was a cheap unaccomplished and often boring winner.

To tell you the truth, I think a lot of the writers had just stopped caring about the old formula by the later half of XY and just stopped putting effort into it. The Pokegirl, Team Rocket, a lot of the COTD plots, even a lot of the battles besides Serena's, if you take out the flashy animation and adrenaline, they're actually very basic and repetitive in execution with not a whole lot of substance. They were done in the most no brainer manner possible and had some glitzy cosmetics slopped on to hide it.